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(Specimens.)

1. 3. BRAGHER. V HAT SWEAT. N0. 296,918. Patented Apr. 15, 1884.

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1 1116 6 7: fem ye ff 52W UNTTE TATES GEORGE S. BRAOHER, OF NEWV YORK, N. Y.

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SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 296,918, dated April 15, 1884.

Application filed J annary 26, 1834. (Specimens) fo d/Z] 1071/0722 it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE S. BRACHER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of New York, in the county and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Hat-Sweats, of which the following is a specification.

Heretofore hat-sweats have been provided along one edge with a stiffener, technically known as a reed, and consisting of a cord, wire, or vegetable splint-usually of rattan. As a means of attachment and for aesthetic reasons, the reed has been inclosed in a coveringstrip of some suitable fabric, which in turn has been united to the sweat by stitching,.either exposed or concealed. Reeds covered or uncovercd have also been attached by stitches which pass over and around said reed. To answer the requirements of the case,this covering material is necessarily of fine quality, frequently of silk, oiled or plain, and in a variety of colors. The use of the covering material involves the expense of the material and the use of more elaborate machinery to place and hold it properly while being sewed. To obviate the trouble and expense of covering the reed, as well as to improve the article intrinsically and in appearance, I employ a reed which has been prepared and finished by dyeing or painting in color as desired and surface finishing with varnish, either lustrous or otherwise, as preferred, and attach the same without covering to the edge of the sweat by any approved mode. I have found it desirable, also, to employ a strip of some suitable fabric behind the reed, but concealed by it, and united to the sweat by some proper means, whereby I form an edge groove on the sweat, wherein the reed may lie, and therefore be more firmly held in position.

My invention therefore consists, first, in a sweat-leather provided at its edge with a prepared and finished reed Without covering; and, second, in a sweat-leather provided with a finished but uncovered reed and a concealed backing-strip. V

In the drawings, similar letters of reference designate corresponding parts in all of the figures so far as shown.

Figure 1 shows in elevation and perspective part of a hat-sweat made according to my invention in its simplest form. a is the face of the body, and b is its back. 0 is the reed. (Z d are stitches as they appear on the face, and e e are the same stitches as they appear on the back when a plain whipping loclcstitch is used.

Fig. 2 is an elevation of part of the face side of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an elevation of part of the back side of Fig. 1, and Fig. i is a vertical section of Fig. 1. The Figs. 2, 3, and 4 are on an enlarged scale.

Fig. 5 shows in elevation and perspective part of a hat-sweat also made according to my invention, and differing only from that shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4 in having muslin or other suitable material folded into a narrow strip and so placed against the back of the body that its folded edge will be about in the horizontal plane of the upper edge of the body proper.

Fig. 6 is a vertical section of Fig. 5 on an enlarged scale. In Figs. 5 and 6 the strip of folded material is indicated by the lettersff, and its folded edge in Fig. 6 by the letter g. This strip f f may be pasted to the body be fore the reed is put in place; or it may be simply held in place while the reed is being stitched in its proper relative position. well in all cases to bevel the edge of the body proper, so as to leaveits face edge more or less of an acute angle, that the joint between that face edge and the reed may be closer. The folded edge 9 g of the strip ff, under the tension of the stitching, which passes just below its fold, will have a tendency to cause that fold. to diverge a little from the body proper, and so to form a trough or groove into which the stitches passing around the reed will, to some extent, draw the reed and seat it more firmly. then this strip is not used, the edge of the body It is clearly identified.

invention, wherein the reed is held in place on the edge of the body by singlethread overhand stitches d d. In such case the stitch will present the same appearance (except that its diagonal lines relative to the reed will be reversed) on both sides of the sweat. This method of stitching is also applicable to the sweat when composed of the parts shown in Figs. 5 and 6, and, indeed, it is this appearance of overhand whipping that is sought to be produced by the machinestitching shown in Figs. 1 to 6; but as the appearance of the stitches is entirely a matter of taste, I do not limit my claims to any particular kinder class of stitching shown, but desire to be understood as covering in the combination any kind of stitch by which the thread is carried through the body or body and strip (when the strip is used) and around the reed to hold it in its place.

Fig. 8 shows in section part of a hat and its brim and the position of a finished sweat relative thereto, that the thing herein described and called a hat-sweat, and its sides, re spectively called ace and back, may be In that figure, h h are the body and brim of the hat, and a b c the sweat in place therein, a being the face of the sweat,

0 its back, and 0 its reed.

To carry my invention into practice, I take the ordinary reeds sold in the market for hatsweat makers use and finish them by ordinary Wood filling, color and varnish to any desired mains exposed, and through the sweat-body materials,on which the reed rests just below the line of contact, and all drawn closely together; or, as shown in the Figs. 1 to 6, a loop of thread from the back passes overthe reed and is caught and drawn tightly in place by the thread on the other side of the sweat.

Various colors of reeds orof threads, or of both, may be employed to produce pleasing effects in the finished article; and wires or hard-finished cord or equivalent may be substituted for the reed without departing from the spirit of my invention; hence I desire to be understood as including all of such matters in my use of the single word reed in the claims.

I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. A sweat-leather provided with a reed dressed and finished with an application of varnish, attached to said sweat-leather without a covering, substantially as set forth.

2. A sweat-leather provided at its edge with a reed dressed and polished with an application of varnish, without covering, except the 'inclosing-stitches whereby it is united to the sweat.-

3. A sweat-leather provided with a dressed and finished reed. a, without covering, and the backing-strip f, united to said sweat. but concealed behind the reed, substantially as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed my name, in presence of two witnesses, this 23d day of January, 1884.

' GEORGE S. BRAGHER. lVitnesses:

J osnrn S. MIcHAEL, J osnrn B. LYMAN. 

